Newspapers Increasingly Dump Obama For Romney

Mitt Romney greets supporters as he campaigns at Avon Lake High School in Avon Lake, Ohio, on Monday. AP View Enlarged Image

President Obama spent roughly half an hour last Tuesday on the phone with the Des Moines Register's publisher and editor, desperately trying to win the influential Iowa newspaper's endorsement for a second term.

"You'll feel better when you give it," Obama told them, after touting what he said were four years of accomplishments, along with promises of strong economic growth should he get four more years.

Three days later, the Register endorsed Mitt Romney — the first Republican the paper has backed in 40 years.

Not only that, but the editors blasted Obama, saying his "best efforts to resuscitate the stumbling economy have fallen short" and adding that "nothing indicates it would change with a second term."

They didn't think Obama "would lead in the direction the nation must go." And they trashed Obama for hardening the partisan divide, which "hampered not only the economy, but the entire country."

Ouch.

The paper also argued that the single most important issue facing the country was economic growth, and that Romney had the experience, the proven leadership ability and the right prescription to "unlock this nation's economic potential."

The Register isn't the only newspaper to abandon Obama this year after eagerly endorsing four years ago.

In fact, of those major metro dailies that have announced their picks, more than one in five that had previously backed Obama are now pushing Romney, according to a tally by the American Presidency Project. Most, like the Register, had a history of endorsing Democratic presidents. Here's a sampling:

Illinois' Daily Herald wrote that after four years of Obama, "our country is still polarized, our politics is still partisan, our economy slugs along painfully on one of the slowest recoveries in history and the country's debt threatens our future and the future of our children."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was more succinct, saying Obama "failed to focus on Job One: Jobs."

These papers also hammered Obama for spending his first two years pushing the unpopular and fiercely partisan Obama-Care. That, the Tennessean argued, "rendered much of his presidency ineffective."

They also complained that Obama had nothing to offer in a second term.

"Americans hoping for better from a prospective second term are frustrated by Obama's failure to explain how four more years would be different," argued the Los Angeles Daily News.

And most, like the Orlando Sentinel, expressed "little confidence that Obama would be more successful managing the economy and the budget in the next four years."

Mitt Romney greets supporters as he campaigns at Avon Lake High School in Avon Lake, Ohio, on Monday. AP View Enlarged Image

President Obama spent roughly half an hour last Tuesday on the phone with the Des Moines Register's publisher and editor, desperately trying to win the influential Iowa newspaper's endorsement for a second term.

"You'll feel better when you give it," Obama told them, after touting what he said were four years of accomplishments, along with promises of strong economic growth should he get four more years.

Three days later, the Register endorsed Mitt Romney — the first Republican the paper has backed in 40 years.

Not only that, but the editors blasted Obama, saying his "best efforts to resuscitate the stumbling economy have fallen short" and adding that "nothing indicates it would change with a second term."

They didn't think Obama "would lead in the direction the nation must go." And they trashed Obama for hardening the partisan divide, which "hampered not only the economy, but the entire country."

Ouch.

The paper also argued that the single most important issue facing the country was economic growth, and that Romney had the experience, the proven leadership ability and the right prescription to "unlock this nation's economic potential."

The Register isn't the only newspaper to abandon Obama this year after eagerly endorsing four years ago.

In fact, of those major metro dailies that have announced their picks, more than one in five that had previously backed Obama are now pushing Romney, according to a tally by the American Presidency Project. Most, like the Register, had a history of endorsing Democratic presidents. Here's a sampling:

Illinois' Daily Herald wrote that after four years of Obama, "our country is still polarized, our politics is still partisan, our economy slugs along painfully on one of the slowest recoveries in history and the country's debt threatens our future and the future of our children."

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel was more succinct, saying Obama "failed to focus on Job One: Jobs."

These papers also hammered Obama for spending his first two years pushing the unpopular and fiercely partisan Obama-Care. That, the Tennessean argued, "rendered much of his presidency ineffective."

They also complained that Obama had nothing to offer in a second term.

"Americans hoping for better from a prospective second term are frustrated by Obama's failure to explain how four more years would be different," argued the Los Angeles Daily News.

And most, like the Orlando Sentinel, expressed "little confidence that Obama would be more successful managing the economy and the budget in the next four years."

In contrast, these formerly Obama-backing papers pointed to the strengths they said Romney brings to the table.

The Tennessean noted that "Romney has the business experience that gives him better understanding of the needs of real job creators."

The Daily News said Romney had "proven his leadership qualities as a business success, as the trouble-shooting head of the Salt Lake City Olympics, and as the governor of Democratic Party-dominated Massachusetts," adding that he had "a record of fixing problems."

Just as important to these editorial boards was the fact that while Obama promised to bridge the partisan divide, Romney has actually done it.

As governor of Massachusetts, the Sun-Sentinel editors wrote, Romney "worked with a Democrat-dominated legislature ... to close a $3 billion budget deficit — without borrowing and raising taxes."

These papers also credited Romney with having a sharp focus on the country's most pressing problems.

He "at least shows he understands that reviving the economy and repairing the government's balance sheet are imperative — now, not four years in the future," explained the Orlando Sentinel.

Newspaper endorsements may not mean much these days, given their declining readership and influence. But they clearly show the disaffection many liberals have with Obama's economic stewardship.

And they are a good indicator of where the political momentum lies, which as the election draws near, is clearly with Romney.

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